Chapter 694: Classes Resumes

"Hey, Cyrus. Hey, Ezra."

Veda greeted the two boys as he approached their seats.

He sat down calmly, placing his space bag beside the table.

Nickolas Balor also took his seat at Veda’s right.

"It’s been a long time, Ezra and Sir Cyrus."

He greeted them as well, his tone carrying a hint of familiarity.

Ezra and Cyrus both returned his greetings.

Nate Ashenlocke arrived a moment later, walking over to take the seat beside Ezra.

He settled down and began preparing for the lesson, taking out his notes for the course that was about to start.

"I would say it has been a while since we all sat down together."

He spoke calmly as he arranged his notes on the table.

"Yeah, I didn’t really get any chance to speak to you, Nate, or even Ezra after our First Semester Ending Party."

Veda leaned forward, resting his right arm on the table.

His gaze moved between Cyrus, Ezra, and Nate as he spoke.

"How was your training?"

"It was fine."

Nate replied calmly.

He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head, looking as though he had no intention of making a big deal out of the subject.

"Elder Portia is quite scary. I didn’t know that old elder could really be that terrifying."

He shook his head, recalling the training he had received from Elder Portia.

Even now, the thought of the experience seemed to leave him with plenty to say, though he did not go into further detail.

"It was both you and Lyra who got to train with Elder Portia, right?"

Henry Ashenlocke asked with a hint of jealousy.

He was seated in the column of the joint table in front of Nate’s, so he turned around to speak to him.

His upper body twisted towards the back while one arm rested on the edge of the joint table.

"Yeah."

Nate replied.

His gaze shifted towards Lyra Ashburn, who was seated nearby, looking at Vera Ashenlocke with excitement.

As always, Vera was sitting with Diane Bergwyn beside her.

Diane was sleeping peacefully, just as she usually did.

Her head rested on the joint table, and she seemed completely at ease despite the conversations filling the classroom.

Willow Derlis sat on Vera’s other side, occasionally glancing towards the people around them.

Behind Vera’s column, Nina and Zack were seated together.

Nina leaned forward as she responded to a comment from a noble lady of House Derlis.

Several other girls had gathered around them, and their conversation continued with one person speaking before another quickly joined in.

Their attention seemed to be drawn towards the students they admired, and the discussion showed no sign of ending soon.

Across the classroom...

On the opposite column of desks near the center, Sasha Burnwick and Selena Galehart were also seated with their friends and admirers.

They chatted among themselves, occasionally turning towards the other students when something caught their attention.

The classroom had returned to its usual liveliness.

Conversations overlapped across the rows of joint tables.

Some students were catching up with their friends after the holidays, while others were discussing their training experiences or the events of the previous semester.

A few had already taken out their notes in preparation for class, though they sometimes joined the conversations around them.

Nate shifted his gaze back towards Henry.

Henry had continued talking with the Young Lord of Ash and Nickolas, and Bess Ashforge, who was seated beside him, had joined their conversation.

Other students in the area also began speaking with Veda and Ezra, taking the opportunity to catch up with them now that the new semester had begun.

Nate listened to the conversations around him for a while.

Then, he felt someone’s gaze on him from behind and to his left.

He turned his head.

Priscilla’s eyes met his.

The moment she noticed him looking back, she quickly turned away.

Nate blinked.

Did she notice me staring at the flowers?

He wondered silently.

He did not call out to her.

Instead, he turned his attention back towards the front of the classroom, though the brief exchange remained in his mind.

Meanwhile...

Ezra had already taken out his Zphone Tablet.

He kept his eyes on the screen, occasionally moving a finger across it as he read.

When someone spoke to him, he responded directly.

If the question required a more detailed answer, he gave one, but otherwise, he returned his attention to the tablet without prolonging the conversation.

Beside him, Cyrus had put on his headset and was listening to music.

He rested his head on the joint table, apparently content to let the others talk while he enjoyed his own time.

Ezra continued reading.

The familiar sounds of students talking, chairs moving, and people exchanging greetings filled the classroom.

The holiday was over, and the students had returned to their usual routines.

The ordinary life of the academy had truly resumed.

Bam!

The classroom door suddenly flew open.

"My, Scholars! Professor Keith, why would you kick the door like that?!"

Karla’s voice echoed from the entrance.

"Calm down. The door isn’t going to break."

Professor Keith replied in an indifferent tone.

He walked into the classroom as though nothing unusual had happened, leaving the door behind him.

His relaxed attitude stood in sharp contrast to the way he had entered, and a few students turned to look at him with expressions that suggested they were already used to his behaviour.

The sudden noise had interrupted several conversations.

Students near the entrance looked towards the professor, while others slowly turned away from their friends.

The classroom gradually grew quieter as more people realized that the lesson was about to begin.

"Professor Keith."

Princess Stella Aethelmont stood up and looked at him with a calm expression.

"That wasn’t a nice way to welcome yourself into the class. You startled a few of my classmates."

She spoke firmly, making no attempt to hide her displeasure.

"What?!"

Keith turned towards her with a dramatically shocked expression.

"Young Alchemists are scared of a door opening?"

He placed one hand beneath his chin, pretending to consider the matter.

"No wonder."

He nodded as though he had reached a perfectly reasonable conclusion from the princess’s complaint.

A few students looked at one another.

It was difficult to tell whether the professor was genuinely surprised or simply looking for another opportunity to tease them.

Judging by his expression, the latter seemed more likely.

"Your Highness, please stop giving the professor a reason to make fun of us."

Willow Derlis spoke calmly, glancing towards Princess Stella.

Stella’s eyes stiffened slightly.

She was about to reply, but Phiora Casper reached over and held her hand.

Stella turned to look at her.

Phiora shook her head.

The princess understood what she meant.

Even if she continued the argument, she would hardly win against someone like Willow Derlis, especially with Professor Keith standing there ready to make fun of the entire situation.

Stella pressed her lips together before sitting down.

"Haha... Haha..."

Prince Tristin and Basil laughed mockingly at the sight of her embarrassment.

Stella did not turn towards them.

She simply returned her attention to the front, though her expression remained a little stiff.

"Alright, alright. Everyone should quiet down."

Professor Keith waved his hand lazily.

Karla had already placed the teaching materials on the podium.

She moved towards the glass board and switched it on, causing its surface to light up as the system began preparing for the lesson.

The remaining conversations gradually faded.

Students settled into their seats.

Some, who had yet to take out their notes, took them out, while others put away the things they had been using before the professor arrived.

Cyrus lifted his head from the joint table, and Ezra continued looking at his Zphone Tablet until the classroom was ready.

Keith folded his arms and surveyed the students in silence for a brief moment.

"Welcome back to class, everyone. I hope you enjoyed your holidays and learnt a lot?"

He spoke while moving his gaze across the classroom, looking from one student to another.

"I’m sure a lot of you have grown stronger from just that holiday."

A smirk appeared on his face.

"Which means I can make your practical classes more interesting."

His smirk widened, and he began laughing under his breath.

"The professor is scary."

Cherry Sailor bent forward, gripping the edge of the joint table as she grew more nervous at Keith’s words.

Her fingers tightened against the surface.

She had heard enough from the professor to know that his idea of an interesting practical class was not always something the students would enjoy.

Maxwell looked at her helplessly before turning his attention back towards Professor Keith.

He’s right about many people growing stronger.

Maxwell thought.

And here I thought I’d improved drastically more than everyone else.

His confidence had not disappeared, but the professor’s words had made him reconsider his earlier assumption.

He moved his golden eyes across the classroom, looking at Vera, Ravenor, Diane, Veda, Willow, and several other students.

Something about their presence had changed.

He could feel it, even if he could not immediately put it into words.

They seemed different from before the holidays.

His gaze lingered on Ezra for a while.

Then Maxwell turned back towards Professor Keith.

He had thought his own improvement was considerable, but looking at the others made him wonder just how much progress they had made during the break.

The difference was not necessarily something he could measure by looking at them, yet he could sense that some of them had advanced in ways he had not expected.

Keith, meanwhile, seemed pleased with the students’ reactions.

"We are resuming where we left off, with our general study of Alchemy."

He walked towards the podium and picked up the Zphone Tablet.

After tapping the screen a few times, he sent the file for the day’s topic to the holographic screen at the front of the classroom.

The display lit up, showing the lesson material.

Several students straightened in their seats.

Others opened their notebooks and began preparing to take notes, while a few adjusted their positions to get a clearer view of the screen.

The chatter finally came to an end.

Class had begun, and everyone knew it was time to take the lesson seriously.

Hours passed as Professor Keith continued teaching general Alchemy.

He explained the material on the holographic screen, answered questions from students who did not understand certain points, and occasionally asked questions of his own to test whether they had been paying attention.

Some students answered at once, while others needed a little time to think.

Whenever someone gave an incomplete answer, Keith would ask another question, forcing them to consider the subject more carefully instead of simply memorizing what was written on the screen.

The lesson continued at a steady pace.

By the time the class reached its final stretch, most students had filled several pages of notes.

Some leaned back briefly to rest their hands, while others checked what they had written before returning their attention to the professor.

"So, we will stop here for today."

Professor Keith placed the Zphone Tablet he had been holding throughout the lesson on the podium.

He then stepped forward and looked across the classroom.

"I see that the candidates for the First-Year Representative have been chosen."

He said this with an interested expression as he studied the students.